Lamp-socket shell.



H. E. REEVE. LAMP SOCKET SHELL. APPLICATION FILED MAR.9, 1911.

Patented July 28, 1914 .rear iew of the same.

HENRY E. REEVE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LAMP-SOCKE I. SHELL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 1y 28, 1914,"-

Appllcation filed March 9, 1911 Serial No. 613,247.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, HENRY E. Rnavn, acitizen of the United States, and resident of New York, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Lamp-Socket Shells, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates particularly to improvements in construction bymeans of which the parts of an incandescent lamp socket shell may bereadily connected or dis connected but in which they cannot beaccidentally disconnected or separated by pulling the body from the capof the shell.

It is an improvement over my former Patent #980,438 dated January 3rd,1911. I

Briefly stated the improvements consist in having. the catches on thecap in the formof hooks for engaging the shoulders on the body so thatthe cap and body cannot be accidentally pulled apart and in providing aboss or projection, by means of which the body of the shell may be morereadily engaged for compressing and unlocking the ody. v

Figure 1, is a front view of a lamp socket shell embodying theimprovements of my invention. .This [shell is of the so called key orpull socket type. Fig. 2, is a Fig. 3, is a vertical sectional view ofthe shell on an enlarged scale showing the thickness of the metalsomewhat exaggerated. Fig. 4, is a view of the under side of the capportion. Fig. 5, is a plan view of the body portion of the shell. Fig.6, is a perspective view of the cap and Fig. 7 is a perspective view ofthe body of the shell. Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views of the capand body respectively of a keyless or switchless socket snell of myinvention. a g

The cap 1 and body 2 are formed of suit- .able material such as brass asis commonly employed. The body is provided with a slot 3 which makes theupper end of the body compressible. The width of this slot is immaterialand it may be wide enough as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 7 to accommodatethe usual key or pull chain of key sockets or pull sockets or a mereslit as shown at 3' in Fig. 9. The cap is provided with a flange 4 forreceiving the upper end of the body and the shoulder 5 on the interiorfor limiting the. telescopic movement of the body in the cap henassembling the parts. The cap is provided with inwardly and upwardlyturned catches such as 6 and 7 formedby bending inward and upwardlimited portions of the edge \of the cap. -These catches are bent upwardto a suflicieht extent-to form hooks. The body is provided with slotshaving shoulders such as 8 and 9 for engaging t e hook-like catches 6and 7 respectively. The shoulder 8 is formed by perforating the metal ofthe body, and the shoulder 9 is formed by notching the body at one sideof the slot 3. To aline the parts 1n assembling I may also provideinter-em gaging projections such as 10 and 11'. In order to facilitatethe assembling of the parts I prefer to bend the edge of the'bodyinwardly as at 12 and 13 adjacent the shoulder 8 and the entrance totheslot 3. As a small notchis formed at 14 in theed'ge of the cap below thecatch 6 I prefer to provide an upwardly projecting tongue15 t0 fill thenotch 14. i

In order to disconnect the parts it is necessary to compress the upperend of the body 2 so as to clear'one shoulder 8- or 9 from its hook-likecatch 6 or 7. .To facilitate this I have provided a boss 16-serving as athumb engagingmeans below shoulder 9. By this it is easy to pressinwardly-and upwardly when necessary on the shell adjacent the shoulder9 so as to force the shol'ilder 9 inwardly and disengage it from thepath of the hook-like catch 7. As the catch 6 is substantially the widthof the slot below shoulder 8' and the catch 7 is of such a width as toextend from the left edge of the slot 3 to the right edge of theshoulder 9, the parts cannot be relatively rotated. Y WVhen theprojecting boss 16 is pressed inwardly and the shoulder 9 disengagedfrom the catch 7 the body may be swung downward, at which time the catch6 and the shoulder 8 serve as a hinge. The parts may be assembled eitherby direct telescopic movement or by hooking the shoulder 8. over thecatch (Sand then swinging the body into the cap about the catch 6 asahinge. \Vhen the shoulder 9 slips up and out over the edge of the hook 7it snaps against the inner-wall of the flange 4 at which timethcshoulders 8 and 9 are se curely locked above the hook-like catches 6 and7 respectively and cannot be pulled apart.

In Figs. 8 and 9 I have show'n'the cap 1 and the bodv 2 of a so calledkeyless or suitchless socket shell. The body is redcrcil compressible atone or more places as by means of cuts or slits such as 3, 3. Thehook-catches 6 and 7' are of suitable size and :he body is slotted toform shoulders 8 and 9 to correspond therewith at points adjacent one orboth slits 3, 3. The edge of the body may be bent in as at 12' and 13'to form guide channels in line with the shoulders 8 and 9 to facilitateassembling. Adjacent one of the shoulders for instance 9' is the boss 16for engagement by the thumb or finger for releasing the catches. Theoperations of assembling and separation are sub stantially the same asin the key socket or pull socket type of shell. hook catch the harderthe pull on the body of the shell, the more securely are the partsinterlocked.

What I claim is l. A lamp socket shell comprising a cap having limitedportions of its edge bent inward and upward to form hook-like catches, acompressible body having shoulders for engaging with said hook-likecatches, said body having a projecting boss adjacent one of saidshoulders which may be pressed to release said shoulder in order todisengage said body from said cap.

2. A lamp socket shell comprising a cap having an inwardly and upwardlyprojecting hook-catch and an elastic body having a slot renderingv thebody compressible adjacent thereto and a notch at one edge of said slotwith a shoulder arranged to engage said hook-catch and a projecting bossadjacent said shoulder to facilitate compressing said body and clearingsaid shoulder I from the path of said hook-catch.

3. A socket shell comprising a tubular body and a cap having a dependentrim telescopically engaged over the end of the body, the said cap havinga locking shoulder and the body having a compressible portion providedwith a locking shoulder adapted to en gage with the locking shoulder onthe cap to By this type of prevent separation of the body and cap, and

the body being further provided with an outstanding boss on the saidcompressible portion disposed adjacent the rim of the cap when the partsare assembled and projecting beyond the plane of the said rim to providea thumb hold by which the compressible portion of the body may bepressed inwardly without interference with the rim, of the cap todisengage the shoulder on the body from the shoulder on the cap andpermit separation of the body and cap.

4 In 'a lamp socket shell, a compressible body having shoulders, a caphaving a flange with limited portions of its edge turned in- Wardly andupwardly intohook-like form for engaging said shoulders, said bodyhaving a projecting boss adjacent one of said shoulders by pressure onwhich the body may be compressed and the adjacent shoulder lifted out ofthe hook-like catch with which it is engaged.

5. A lamp socket shell comprising a body slotted so as to becompressible at the upper end, a cap fol receiving said body, one ofsaid members having openings affording locking shoulders and the othermember havin g hooks bent back on an incline toward the main portion ofsaid member to provide inclined locking shoulders in line with saidshoulders when the parts are assembled so as to cause interlockingengagement when the members are relatively tensioned longitudinally andmeans for alining and guiding said members so that when the end of thebody s inserted in the cap in proper alinement the parts may be pushedtogether and the shoulders and books will relatively snap past eachother.

HENRY E. REEVE.

Witnesses: n

Roar. S. ALLYN, E. BRADFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained to:

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C."

